The present disclosure relates to the treatment of subterranean production intervals and, more particularly, to gravel packing circulating sleeves that can be opened and closed and permanently closed.
In the oil and gas industry, particulate materials such as sand and other wellbore debris are often produced to the surface during the extraction of hydrocarbons from a well that traverses unconsolidated or loosely consolidated subterranean formations. Producing such particulate matter can cause abrasive wear to components within the well, such as tubing, pumps, and valves, and can sometimes partially or fully clog the well creating the need for an expensive workover operation. Also, if the particulate matter is produced to the surface, it must be removed from the extracted hydrocarbons by various processing equipment at the surface.
To prevent the production of such particulate material to the surface, unconsolidated or loosely consolidated production intervals in the well are often gravel packed. In a typical gravel pack operation, a completion string including a packer, a circulation valve, a fluid loss control device and one or more sand control screens, is lowered into the wellbore to a position proximate the desired production interval. A service tool is then positioned within the completion string and a fluid slurry that includes a liquid carrier and a particulate material (i.e., gravel) is then pumped through the circulation valve and into the well annulus formed between the sand control screens and the perforated well casing or open hole production zone. The liquid carrier either flows into the adjacent formation or returns to the surface by flowing through the sand control screens, or both. In either case, the gravel is deposited around the sand control screens to form a gravel pack, which is highly permeable to the flow of hydrocarbon fluids but simultaneously blocks the flow of the particulate material often carried in the hydrocarbon fluids. As such, gravel packs can successfully prevent the problems associated with the production of particulate materials from the formation.
During the gravel packing operation, the service tool is often moved between various positions with respect to the completion string. For instance, the service tool typically has one or more shifting tools that can be used to move sliding sleeves associated with the completion string between open and closed configurations. Opening a circulating sleeve arranged in the circulation valve, for example, may expose one or more corresponding circulation ports that place the interior of the service tool in fluid communication with an annulus defined between the completion string and an adjacent formation. Upon removing the service tool from the completion string, it is often required to move various sleeves to their corresponding closed positions. In some cases, a well operator may require or otherwise desire that the circulating sleeve be permanently locked in a closed position so that fluids from the annulus are prevented from entering the completion via the circulation ports.